THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS; Devils Searching for the Finishing Touch

By JOE LAPOINTE

Published: April 28, 1998

KANATA, Ontario, April 27—
Is it fair to compare? To do so is to notice that Bill Guerin, the exiled ex-Devil, has scored four goals in three playoff games for the Edmonton Oilers, and Claude Lemieux, the best performer in New Jersey's Stanley Cup spring of 1995, has two goals in three games for the Colorado Avalanche.

Devils fans remember both players as top post-season producers who challenged management and were banishedto Western Conference teams. Of the current Devils obtained in those trades, Jason Arnott has no goals in this tournament and neither does Steve Thomas. But why blame only them? Few others are scoring for the Devils, who trail the Ottawa Senators by two games to one in the first-round series that resumes with Game 4 on Tuesday night in the Corel Center.

In three games, the Devils have put four pucks past Senators goalie Damian Rhodes. The other goal was into an empty net. When the Devils play well, as they did when they finished first in the Eastern Conference, they are a well-oiled machine. But when they get sand in their gears, they seem to freeze up, as they did Sunday in losing Game 3 by 2-1 on an overtime goal by Aleksei Yashin.

After practice today, Coach Jacques Lemaire and his star players insisted they were in no state of panic against a younger, faster team that finished eighth in the conference.

''I told them that we played hard,'' Lemaire said when asked what he said to his players after Game 3. ''We deserved to win that game. We fought until the end. We're climbing. We're playing better. We're getting stronger. We're playing better as a team. And we have to keep going. And it's going to turn around and we'll take over.''

Lemaire said none of these things to the news media Sunday. He was too angry about a penalty call in overtime against defenseman Lyle Odelein. Ottawa scored on the ensuing power play. Lemaire said he spoke to his players instead of to reporters because the players are more important to him. He said he didn't want to ''flip'' by criticizing Referee Dan Marouelli.

When Lemaire resigned as coach of the Montreal Canadiens in 1985, one reason was the pressure in that hockey-oriented city. For five seasons in New Jersey, he has faced few harsh questions during regular seasons. But here, in the playoffs, with the Rangers and Islanders idle, clusters of cameras and microphones are aimed at him. The spotlight is bright and hot. Does Lemaire communicate tension to his players? Dave Andreychuk said Lemaire's message is confidence.

''Every time he talks he's very positive,'' Andreychuk said. ''We have had no negative vibes since the series started. We're all staying positive. We're not going to get down on each other. We've got to go out and win a game here. That's the bottom line.''

Speaking of lines, the biggest and most balanced on the Devils consists of Andreychuk, Bobby Holik and Randy McKay. Among them they have only one goal, by Andreychuk, and that was on the power play. But they have 28 shots and they dominated several shifts Sunday with effort and superior size. McKay said they needed to add a finishing touch.

''Get the puck at the net,'' McKay said. ''It's something that we have talked about as a line. We did have good shifts as far as controlling the puck and outmuscling them in the corners and behind the net. But we didn't get the puck to the front of the net. We have to be a little more creative.''

This line, and the other scoring line centered by Doug Gilmour, is limited in ice time because Lemaire uses his checking center, Bob Carpenter, against Yashin, Ottawa's top center. When asked today whether he was happy with the matchup, Lemaire said he was, although he noted that Ottawa Coach Jacques Martin also seems satisfied. Yashin has two goals, one on the power play, the other when both teams were skating four a side.

Holik, a center, said he would not mind a few more shifts, head-to-head, against Yashin.

''Why not?'' Holik said. ''I've played against him before. I feel like I can play against him. But it's up to Jacques to feel comfortable. Sometimes, they double-shift Yashin's line. That's why Carpie goes on there more often.''

The Devils also need help on the power play, which has 1 goal in 11 chances compared with Ottawa's 2 for 14. Brendan Morrison, the Devils rookie, helped set up the power-play goal in Game 2. He didn't play in the other two games. He hopes to play Tuesday.

''I think there's a chance,'' Morrison said. Was he disappointed about not playing Sunday? ''Everybody wants to be playing and trying to contribute,'' Morrison said. ''But you're not angry.''

Gilmour, with three goals this series, said Sunday that he, too, was disappointed with his ice time in Game 3. But he was not available for comment today.

The captain, Scott Stevens, has no complaints about his ice time. On Sunday, Stevens led the Devils in playing time with 27 minutes 35 seconds. After a long season that included the Winter Olympics for Canada, it might be reasonable to wonder if the 34-year-old veteran is weary.

''No, I enjoy playing a lot,'' Stevens said. ''The more I play, the better I play.'' He said that Sunday's game was ''our best game of the series'' and that now ''is not a time to get tight.''